The 2023 general elections are not just a sham as some have said. It is another seasonal show of shame of many episodes from us all. From the moment the incumbent President openly displayed his ballot paper to the whole world on election day, the ‘free and fair’ of the election became a matter of debate. It became a norm as people did it openly citing the President’s action to claim their voting-allowance from party agents. But I know, as usual, the court/tribunal will stamp it with the principle of ‘substantial compliance’ as it is wont to do. Substantial compliance presupposes that the level of compliance achieved is sufficient despite identified deficiencies which pose no greater risk than desirable as to bring damage to the process. But the thing is, using the principle of substantial compliance to defeat the tax authorities and capitalist insurance companies may be condoned but using it against the electorate is judicial complicity in electoral fraud. The taxpayer and the insured are the beneficiaries of that principle and it is strictly construed against the tax authority and the insurance companies perhaps because of the balance of power. But in elections, the balance of power lies in the electoral commission, so why construe the principle against the electorates?
The 2023 general elections are not just a sham,
but a disgrace. Folks want us to compare an election in a digital era to
pre-1999 election. That is utterly absurd and inhumane. It is time the Nigerian
judiciary stop endorsing illegality with convenient phrases in the face of
manifest wrongdoings. This only gives the perpetrators and their accomplices the
confidence to do it again and again. The election tribunals must not endorse the
fraudulent general elections marred by systemic and constructive disenfranchisement
before election day through voter’s card absence, contrived and real voter
suppression by incidences of violence and threats, and outright attacks on
electorate, among others. There is a time to stop madness and the court has to
show us why the law is really a tool for social engineering. It must re-evaluate
this phrase called substantial compliance. For elections, it should be either
compliance or non-compliance.
We are the most populous black nation, and many
look up to us to take the lead for Africa. Yet, we stutter, we slumber, and we shame
an entire continent. The efforts put into the new electioneering procedure is a
waste if we are still going to be preaching ‘substantial compliance’. The use
of technology is meant to ease the procedure and make it more transparent. Why disorganize
the daily lives of 200 million Nigerians if all we will get is ‘substantial
compliance’ rhetoric? What happened to strict compliance? This might appear to
be a cry from a defeated opposition member. Well, maybe it is, and it would not
have been if the opposition had lost fairly. It would have been a deserved
victory worth partying over for the alleged winners too.
The BVAS were acquired for the purposes of authenticating
voters and uploading results from the 176,606 polling units in real time. If INEC
cannot deliver on this, then it is a shame and maybe there is a need for a
change at the commission. The excuse of cyberattack is untenable. INEC should
identify all IP addresses from which those attack came from and investigate
them. They should also identify internal saboteurs in ad-hoc or permanent staff
who are found wanting and prosecute them for future purposes. The lack of
punishment over the years has led the manipulators to the believe that nothing
can happen to them.
Our country has security challenges and there
is every reason to Police election materials in my view. I am certain that all these
polling unit can be policed effectively, by the Nigerian Police force and Civil
Defence Corp, and the argument of militarization of election is untenable in a
society where hoodlums snatch ballot boxes at will. Protecting our vote doesn’t
mean we should put our lives at risk and really, when thugs are involved, only armed
security operatives can stop them.
Three years ago, Malawi annulled a Presidential
election because it was deemed to have ‘widespread, systematic, and grave
irregularities’. Six years ago, Kenya’s Supreme court upheld the oppositions
argument that voting results were manipulated. The court said, ‘The election
commission failed, neglected or refused to conduct the presidential election
in a manner consistent with the dictates of the constitution.’ I hear
someone say the circumstances are different and I don’t doubt it because Nigeria’s
case is worse off. What happened in Lagos particularly on March 18, 2023,
cannot be called an election. It started as a ‘joke’, but Chukwudi was beaten
blue and black, even Jide and Yemi who were supposed to be immune from the
suppression got slapped and manhandled. Thugs had a filled day. In Rivers State,
as usual, people lost their lives because of elections. In some South-Eastern
states, people of different sub-ethnic inclinations threaten each other because
they have candidates they want to get to victory at all costs. 3 weeks earlier,
Ado Doguwa’s ‘joke’ was executed, against his own people. This still happens in
2023.
Our courts must take note of their role in the society.
We say we have weak institutions, but the courts too are to blame. If a judgment
is given and not respected by politicians, why are the judges going to the
chamber the next day for the same thing to happen? A society where the laws are
of no value is gradually sinking into lawlessness and in the fullness of time,
everyone goes rogue. We all know the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago
and the next best time is now. But we never seem to have the courage to plant that
tree. Our courts need to be firm with the conduct of elections and respect for
the rule of law. Insist on strict compliance for electoral processes.
Do we ever wonder why the number of voters
keeps decreasing every four years instead of increasing with our increasing
population? Do we ever wonder why the courts have been a subject of ridicule especially
in political cases? This general election is best consigned to the bin.
